Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Corokia cotoneasterxc3x97Corokia virgata cultivar Tutti Frutti.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Corokia plant, botanically known as Corokia cotoneasterxc3x97Corokia virgata, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Tutti Fruttixe2x80x99.
The new Corokia was discovered by the Inventors in 1997 in a controlled environment in Otane, New Zealand, from seedling progeny from a chance cross-pollination of an unidentified Corokia cotoneaster selection, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unidentified Corokia virgata selection, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent.
Asexual reproduction of the new Corokia by cuttings in a controlled environment in Otane, New Zealand since 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Corokia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Tutti Frutti have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Tutti Fruttixe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Tutti Fruttixe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright plant form.
2. Freely branching growth habit.
3. Green, yellow and brownish red tri-colored foliage.
Plants of the cultivar Tutti Frutti are most similar to plants of the parents, the unidentified selections of Corokia cotoneaster and Corokia virgata. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Otane, New Zealand, plants of the new Corokia differed from plants of the parent selections primarily in leaf size and leaf coloration.